Withok Estates – Nomalanga Dhlamini recalls the day earlier this year when her life changed forever.
The 40-year-old was on her bed on March 2 when she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her back. It was later discovered that a stray bullet had injured her.
“I jumped off the bed. The other people in the house heard me scream, so they came to check on me,” she explained.
That is when the mother of two learnt she was bleeding.
“There was not a lot of blood. I was still confused,” she added.
She said she called for an ambulance and the police.
“They didn’t show up,” she said.
Dhlamini eventually reached the Pholosong Regional Hospital.
“Two police officers from the Tsakane SAPS approached me while I was waiting in the emergency room. When I started explaining what happened, they told me they could not take my statement because the Brakpan SAPS had to handle the issue as the incident happened in Withok, not Tsakani. Then, they left,” explained Dhlamini.
Hospital staff then wheeled her into the theatre, where what remained of the bullet was removed from her abdomen. After a few days in hospital, she went home to recover.
“My pain has been physical and emotional. I went from being able to do everything for myself to needing someone to take me to the toilet. I could not get out of bed by myself,” she said.
After weeks of pain, Dhlamini finally had the strength to go to the Brakpan Police Station on June 23.
“I went there because I had no communication with the SAPS since the responding officers left Pholosong Hospital,” she explained.
To her dismay, when she asked to speak to someone about her case, Dhlamini was told the matter was never reported to the Brakpan SAPS.
“I was shocked and disappointed that all this time, I was recovering and looking forward to getting some justice, but no one was investigating the matter. I decided to open a case right then and there,” she added.
Dhlamini said she followed up on the investigation several times but felt the police were not doing much.
“My first question is, why have they not come to my home to see where it all happened?
“They did not interview the people who were in the house with me. Did they even ask the hospital for my records?” she wondered.
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Dhlamini claims that on October 16, she received a phone call from the Brakpan SAPS to inform her that the docket would be closed because of a lack of evidence.
“I feel like I am being punished. I did nothing wrong. I was injured in the safety of my own home, and no one wants to help me to get justice.
“My life will never be the same again. It seems like that does not matter to those I am supposed to trust to deal with this,” she concluded.
The Brakpan SAPS failed to respond to several requests for comment.
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